Hi! Oldie here! Just writing an article on my hair loss journey elsewhere. What do you wish you knew about chemo hair loss? If you’re starting your journey what do you want to know? Xx
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Hey @kaz-4
My biggest thing about chemo induced hair loss is the fear of it not growing back. I can absolutely handle being bald as an expected temporary side effect whilst undergoing the treatment but I need to know it’ll be back. Unfortunately, like a lot of aspects of this journey, it’s not something anyone can guarantee and accepting that uncertainty can be very difficult.
I hope this helps and wish you all the best with your article. x
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@kaz-4 My first thought when I was diagnosed was ‘will I lose my hair’. I absolutely dreaded it. Because of this I did the cold cap. In retrospect I wish I hadn’t done the cold cap at all. My reasoning for this is that I found the waiting to see if it had worked or if I’d lose it anyway, was torture. It also added more than 2 hours to the time in the chemo unit. I lost some at the sides on the crown after the first and second chemo but could still cover it with a hairband. After the third I suddenly lost all of it on the crown. After a long discussion with the chemo nurses I stopped the cold cap. 2 weeks later my hair was ver thing and wispy so my husband shaved it off. Frankly that was a relief. I got a wig, wore hats and caps and felt ok. Losing the eyebrows and eyelashes was hard though. The initial regrowth was very slow and I wore hat/wig for a few months more. It then suddenly started to grow and was curly, so after a lifetime of straight hair I didnt know what to do with it!! It straightened and became ‘normal’ after about a year. I’ve kept it short as I like it!
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Hi, thank you for this! Yes I remember feeling horrified when, during consent, I was informed there was a risk it would never grow back! And when it takes so long anyway there’s always a feeling of will it won’t it x
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Hi! So glad your hair is back now and loving keeping it short! I couldn’t with the uncertainty of cold caps, just rip the band aid off, I thought! I loved short too but growing mine now as my kids are keen for it to be long like it used to be x
I wish I’d known that you needed to turn up to treatment with damp hair and leave in conditioner to cold cap. My nurse jusut said they’d let me know what to do at the hospital - i was underprepaired & often wonder if that contributed to more hair loss.
I wish I’d known about Olivia McVeigh (oliviamcveigh_ on instagram). She’s young, beautiful & wears wigs most ofthe time due to alopecia & you’dnever know. She does videos with wig reviews, hints & tips. She’s also started wig classes.
I also wish I’d known that although it’s tough it’ll be behind me in a few years time and I’d have thick, wild curls.
Sending love x
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Love this 
I Could not cold cal for medical reasons. I was given a wig purchasing certificate by the BCN who explained I would loose my hair. All my hair. Trouble was I already have eczema and a number of allergies so wearing a synthetic wig was never going to be sensible. I found my sensitive skin went absolutely crazy and I could not wear many of the chemo headwear options that others had. I ended up having to spend some serious money on the more expensive pure silk, pure cotton and cotton lined bamboo items.Ifound out the hard way you do need some hair to anchor a silk scarf to. CHrmo made my skin so reactive and caused such horrendous eczema flares I could not use any eyebrow nor eyelash type make up either. still cannot and I miss having eyelashes the most
PLEASE Could you consider writing a section for those of us who cannot wear make up, cannot wear a wig and end up with super sensitive reactive skin on chemo so other woman can no they are not alone and how they can approach their BCNs, CHrmo nurses and oncologist for support and maybe drugs to help manage those sort of side effects.
TBH the most upsetting thing for me about visiting the hospitals cancer centre is being about the only woman sans eyebrows, eyelashes and sans hair, sans wig and usually sans headwrap as my scalp is being a bitch over what it will tolerant and for how long.Inhave had no choice about embracing bald and pround Thankfully teens tend to stop me and tell me I rock the look as they assume I just have alopecia.
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My chemo started in February 2022. I actually saw it as an opportunity to get rid of my bleached hair, which was in awful condition after lockdown and far too much reliance on very drying blue shampoo!
To be honest, I wasn’t overly bothered about losing my hair. I was much more concerned about getting through chemo as well as possible. Thankfully, I didn’t have too many side effects. It was really coming down from the steroids that got me.
I had a friend who wore wigs just for the fun of changing her hairstyle, so I decided to embrace that idea. I must have had a premonition because, in the late summer of 2021, I’d had my hair coloured with blue roots. My mum treated me to a silver pixie-cut wig with blue roots, and I also bought a short bob in the same colours. I absolutely loved them, and nobody knew they were wigs unless I told them.
The only thing that really annoyed me was when my hair started growing back. The very first hair to appear was a dirty, great big, thick, black one up my nose! I pulled it out even though it was my only hair. It had one of those fat, juicy roots, and my eyes streamed for hours afterwards!
As for knowing anything about it, I was told my hair would start coming out about two weeks after my first EC treatment. It actually started on day 13. One thing nobody warned me about was that it hurt. It genuinely felt like someone was physically pulling my hair out.
Every cloud has a silver lining. My hair was naturally very curly, and I never really liked it. It had become less curly and edged towards wavy over the years, and thankfully it didn’t grow back any curlier. I started bleaching it again about two and a half years after chemo, but it’s still much softer than it ever used to be and I can often get away without using conditioner. I have since gone back to the red of my 20s-40s because I got fed up of seeing my mother every time I looked in the mirror and, of course, we all know that the party doesn’t start until the red head arrives!
And the other bit of good news? I hardly ever need to shave my armpits, legs or the bits in between anymore!
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@Gelbel I haven’t shaved armpits or legs since my chemo finished 20 months ago! I’ve plucked a few hairs from my eyebrows 2 or 3 times since they grew back - silver linings 
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Oh my goodness you’ve just summed it all up! No one tells you about the pain! And yes I also haven’t shaved my legs or armpits since 2024 
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That its not a given you will lose ALL your hair. The hairs on my legs were stubborn and I kept them through my entire 8 rounds. I finally gave in when the weather got hot and shaved them haha
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Nooo, I’m so sorry you did not experience this 
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Hi
I’m surprised you were told you had to turn up with wet hair and conditioner for cold cap. At my clinic, the nurses wet my hair and applied conditioner. I’m really glad I cold capped. Yes I lost most of it on my crown and it did get very thin but was growing back before the last couple of cycles. It has come back quite quickly ( fully covered within 3 months though still short. ) Personally I would have hated to go bald and because it kept long hair at the back, I could wear a soft cap and look as if my hair was normal and not have to bother with my wig. (The wig looked good but I hated fiddling about to put it on). I wanted to ensure it would grow back quickly even though the nurses kept trying to stop me continuing the cold cap because my scalp was so bare in parts.
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Nice to hear a successful cold cap!
I had a fairly successful cold cap experience. When I started my nurse said that I would lose about 50% of hair with the cold cap. My hair was very thick so I thought I would give it a try as I wasn’t confident in having to shave all my hair off. I did get my hair cut short before starting the first chemotherapy and my hair started shedding just before my 2nd dose of chemo. It continued to shed but didn’t come out in clumps like some others described. Yes, cold cap does lengthen chemotherapy by 2 hours but after 4 cycles of docetaxel I was left with half my hair however due to grey roots I did wear a hat/cap when out walking and wore wig when going out. 6 weeks after my last chemo I got my hair cut and coloured. I know that it’s recommended to wait 3 to 6 months before colouring but this was mostly my original hair. I can feel my hair thickening up again but think it will take 6 months for new hair to become less fine and curly. Unless you have thick hair I wouldn’t recommend cold cap and I was fortunate to only have 4 cycles of chemo, I’m not sure it would have worked with 6 cycles.
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I was prepared to go bald but had not expected to lose all hair everywhere! Two years on and still no eyebrows ! Exacerbated by need for new passport photo so will now be eyebrow less for next ten years. Happy my moustache has not grown back or armpit hair but have recently started growing chin whiskers! Hey ho
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Hello Ladies,
Hate to worry anyone by saying this, but, my chemo finished three years ago and my hair has not grown back. I have some baby fine hair around my head which grows an inch or so in one year, apart from that, nothing. No eyebrows or eyelashes either or anywhere else. Contacted GP to send me to Dermatology at the Hospital but she sent samples of what there is and they said to try Minoxidil (excuse spelling) which sounded to be a right faff on and with no promise of a result. Even the head Breast Care Nurse said not to bother. When they then recommended a particular drug after telling me I had Osteoporosis and I found out it can cause your jaw bone to rot and teeth to fall out and said no thanks, they said that was rare so I pointed out my hair or rather lack of hair and said they also said it was rare for that not to grow back but it didn’t. Anyway, still here so that is what counts isn’t it? Oh, and I even spoke to a top Trichologist person about transplanting but he said due to the fact the hair loss is caused by Chemo it would not work. So when I used to moan about my hair growing quickly and being too thick I should have have shut up, same as moaning about not finding comfortable bras when I suddenly found my boobs had doubled overnight after menopause. I certainly think before I moan now or is that being superstitious??? Love to all, Minnie.
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Hi after my first treatment my hair started to fall out and block the drain. I booked an appointment with my hairdresser and she shaved it all off. I didn’t cold cap because of other people’s experiences. After my third treatment I noticed little spikes of hair starting to grow. I didn’t wear wigs but got some lovely head dressing. Losing my eyebrows and eyelashes was worse than than anywhere else. My hair has grown back fully but both my eyebrows and eyelashes are not nearly as thick as they were before chemo. Oh and Losing my leg underarm and molly was great lol. Good luck with your article.
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